Standing in line at the pizza place, you’ve got a couple of minutes to kill, so you stare down at your phone, and fire up. Rather than browsing through a long list of inane tweets or matching jewel colors up against each other, you can actually be using that time productively.

Learn something new

Image: Duolingo

Apps like Duolingo and Memrise, put a complete set of foreign langualearning tools in your pocket. A ton of language learning apps are available, but what we like about those two in particular is they let you dip in and out of exercises, and set you small challenges that you can tick off each day.

Mobile payments are the future, so we’re told. Apple, Google, and Android all want you surviving on nothing but their products—your financial data safely stored on an NFC chip inside. While not every store in the US supports it, most of them do. Same with the banks. We’ve run though everything, from which banks and stores support smartphone pay to which app to use. So read on so you can stop reaching for your wallet every time you want a coffee.

Just yesterday, WhatsApp celebrated yet another milestone: one billion daily active users. According to its blog post, there are now 55 billion messages, 4.5 billion photos, and one billion videos being sent and shared every day amongst WhatsApp users. Indeed, what started out as a simple idea between two former Yahoo employees has become a global phenomenon. But what exactly makes this messaging app so great?

Don’t want to spend too much on a new smartphone? Here are the best budget phones you can buy in 2017

You know what? You don’t need to part with a lot of cash for a decent smartphone nowadays. Sure, those headline-grabbing powerhouses such as Google’s Pixel, Apple’s iPhone 7 and that Samsung Galaxy S7 are all impressive, but there are some fantastic low-cost alternatives to be had right now. Save your pennies, here’s the definitive list of the best budget smartphones you can buy in 2017.

The modern smartphone age is a marvel. Technology is so much cheaper than it ever has been, and you no longer need to spend mortgage-inducing sums for that yearly smartphone upgrade. Stay away from those big-hitters, and pick up a great budget smartphone on the cheap. You shan’t be disappointed.